20 
A £ittle nSook About \oses 
The Culture of the Rose 
Roses are easy to grow provided you begin with the right kind of plants. Peterson 
Roses have made it possible for the beginner as well as the experienced amateur to 
achieve success. 
SOIL. Any good garden soil 
which will produce vegetables or 
good crops of annuals and peren¬ 
nials will also grow Roses. The 
hardy understock upon which all 
of our Roses are budded does 
well in both heavy clay soils and 
in the lighter sandy loams. 
LOCATION OF SITE. The 
ideal site for a Hybrid Tea Rose- 
garden is one that does not re¬ 
ceive the early morning sun—a 
location sheltered if possible from 
high winds, but where the plants 
will get enough air and sunlight. 
Roses here in the East like partial 
shade, especially during July and 
August when our climate is 
usually hot and dry. When one 
resides in a city or town the choice 
of location for a Rose-bed is 
often quite limited, and yet many 
thousands of Rose-culturists so 
situated are very successful. 
© COUNTESS VANDAL 
Described on page 6 
it can be obtained in a dry concentrated form 
by the bag. Because Roses want their food 
right down at the roots and within a relatively 
small feeding area there is nothing better 
than liquid manure. This solution is very 
easily prepared by soaking either fresh or dry 
manure in water at the rate of approximately 
one pound to every gallon of water. Frequent 
applications about a week apart, using a half 
gallon to a plant during the active growing 
season in June, July, and August is recom¬ 
mended. 
A good grade of raw, coarse bonemeal may 
be mixed with the soil when Roses are planted. 
It can also be fed once or twice a season, about 
a pint to an established plant. Be sure your 
bonemeal is a reliable brand. 
Hardwood ashes not only act as a good 
fertilizer high in potash content, but will also 
sweeten the soil. This may be applied liberally 
two or three times during the growing season. 
Air-slaked lime is good to apply in modera¬ 
tion on an old bed where the soil may be acid. 
It is not a plant-food, but will make other 
fertilizing elements available for plant con¬ 
sumption. Never mix lime and bonemeal 
within a short period. 
Concentrated chemical fertilizers are now 
PREPARATION OF BEDS. 
Although, as we have just said, 
good Roses can be grown in an average gar¬ 
den soil, where the best obtainable Roses are 
desired the beds should be trenched to the 
depth of 15 to 18 inches. Try to get some old 
cow-manure and mix one part of this with 
about three parts of soil. Allow to settle before 
planting. 
It is only when you are forced to plant in a 
low, wet situation that drainage is important. 
In that case you should simply remove about 
a foot of soil and place cinders or stones in the 
bottom of the bed. 
While we do not wish to belittle the idea 
that soil-preparation is important, we do 
know that many beginners who want to plant 
Roses imagine that there is some difficult and 
secret soil-mixture that Rose plants demand, 
and this is decidedly not the case. The feed¬ 
ing, cultivating, spraying or dusting, water¬ 
ing, and pruning of established plants is more 
important than a lot of over-preparation and 
over-fertilizing before the plants are set. 
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. With so 
many new and recommended fertilizers of all 
descriptions being offered to plant-lovers, it 
is no wonder that some of us are rather con¬ 
fused on this subject. At the same time, there 
are no hard-and-fast rules for fertilizing Roses, 
so man y °f the new combinations of 
fertilizing materials have their value in Rose¬ 
feeding provided you follow the directions of 
the manufacturer. 
The best and safest way to feed Roses is to 
use cow-manure in some form. If it is not 
obtainable as well-rotted barn-manure, then 
